Cover assembly for swimming pools



Aug. 26 1958 P. N. CHOPORIS COVER ASSEMBLY FOR swmmme POOLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed garch 28 1957 INVENTOR:

PETER N. CHOPORIS WW "ma:

. ATT'YS 1953 P. N. CHOPORIS 2,848,722

COVER ASSEMBLY FOR SWIMMING POOLS Filed March 28, 1957 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG, 2

INVENTOR:

PETER N. CHOPORIS WMZM Iii g- 1958 P. N. CHOPORIS 2,348,722

COVER ASSEMBLY FOR SWIMMING POOLS Filed March 28, 1957 3 Shee l, 3

9 v o c 2 J: a m Q Q OR: N PETER N. CHOPORIS United States Patent hail COVER ASEMBLY FOR SWIMMING POOLS Peter N. Choporis, Arlington Heights, Ill.

Application March 28, 1957, Serial No. 649,251

7 Claims. (Cl. 4-172) This invention relates in general to swimming pools and to a cover assembly for use in connection therewith.

The installation of swimming pools on the property of a homeowner, in apartment developments and in local communities is becoming more and more popular. However, and particularly in the case of a homeowner, the pool is generally not fenced in or supplied with a life guard or other person to supervise pool activities, and it is not always possible for members of the family owning the pool to watch over the pool at all times. Since a swimming pool is extremely attractive to youngsters, many of which cannot swim, it becomes a neighborhood hazard, and more and more children are drowning in pools year after year. Generally, a homeowner having a swimming pool in his yard might be liable for a drowning of this nature. Further, an open-topped swimming pool is susceptible to collecting leaves, debris and other undesirable foreign matter which necessitates frequent cleaning sessions. Moreover when a pool is installed in the yard of a homeowner, the space or area requiring the pool is sacrificed for the pool only in that it may not be used for any other purpose. Any one or all of these objections serve to deter many homeowners from installing a swimming pool on their property.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved swimming pool which obviates the above objections.

Still another object of this invention resides in the provision of a cover assembly for a swimming pool that may be easily operated to cover or uncover the swimming pool thereby to eliminate a hazard which would normally attract young children when the pool is not in use or not supervised by competent personnel and to also permit covering of the pool to keep out unwanted elements such as leaves, debris, and other foreign matter.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cover assembly for a swimming pool which may be easily operated to cover or uncover the swimming pool thereby permitting the space of the swimming pool to be used for other purposes wherein the cover is of a rigid nature such as a patio.

A still further object of this invention is in the provision of a cover assembly for a swimming pool, wherein the cover may be of a rigid and supporting structure easily operable to cover and uncover the swimming pool, thereby enabling the usage of the space occupied by the swimming pool when the swimming pool is not in use.

A still further object of this invention resides in the provision of a cover assembly for swimming pools wherein the cover constitutes a rigid supporting platform which may be utilized as a patio either when the cover is arranged in overlying position with respect to the swimming pool or removed therefrom to allow usage of the pool.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed dis closure taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a swimming pool and cover arrangement embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional View, taken substantially along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of one end of the cover assembly with certain parts removed for clarity and broken away to illustrate the drive means for the cover assembly in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken longitudinally of the cover assembly and illustrating the assembly in its closed position over the swimming pool;

Fig. 5 is a modification of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a schematic electrical diagram of the circuit employed for effecting operation of the drive means to open and close the cover of the swimming pool.

For purposes of illustrating the invention, the cover assembly herein includes an elongated rigid platform having rollers or wheels mounted thereon which engage tracks arranged along opposite sides of the swimming pool and extending from one end thereof. A drive mechanism is mounted on the cover and may be selectively operated to close the pool or open the pool, wherein the cover will be moved to a position directly overlying the pool or to a position remote from one end thereof to open the pool for use.

Referring now to the drawings, a cover, generally indicated by the numeral 10 is shown in association with a swimming pool, generally indicated by the numeral 11, wherein the cover may be selectively moved to an overlying position with respect to the pool and cover the pool, as seen in Fig. 4, or to a position away from the pool so that the pool is open for use as seen in Fig. 1.

While the pool and cover may be of any desirable shape, for purposes of illustration herein, the pool is shown to be rectangular in shape and including opposed parallel end walls 12 and 13 and opposed parallel side walls 14- and 15. The side and end Walls are joined at their bottom edges by a bottom or floor which is. arranged to define a relatively deep end 16 adjacent the end wall 13 and a relatively shallow end 17 adjacent the end wall 12. For the purpose of drainage and other maintenance, a drain 18 is provided in the deep end 16 of the pool. The pool walls and bottom are preferably constructed of concrete or reinforced concrete, although any other suitable material may be employed. A walkway 19, preferably of concrete, is arranged to surround the walls of the pool and at ground level. As shown, the upper edges of the pool walls are slightly above ground level and the walkway 19. The walkway outside of the end wall 12 is considerably wider than the walkway around the other walls of the pool for a purpose to be explained more clearly hereinafter.

The cover 19 is also rectangular in shape and sized to completely cover the open top of a swimming pool when moved to overlying position as seen in Fig. 4. Although the manner of constructing the cover 10 may be in accordance with any desirable method using any desirable materials, the instant arrangement includes a plurality of longitudinally spaced and transversely extending steel 1- beams 20 secured at their opposite ends in any suitable manner to parallel spaced longitudinally extending side channel rails 21 and 2.2. Opposed end channel rails 23 and 24, arranged in parallel position to the I-beams 29 connect the opposite ends of the side channel rails 21 and 22. Corrugated sheet metal 25, with the corrugations running longitudinally of the cover and transversely of'theI-beams issupported along the top of the I-beams 20, Fig. 2, and concrete 26 is poured over the corrugated sheet metal to the level of the top of the channel rails, as seen in Fig. 2 Metal reinforcing material 27, suchas-r'odsor wire maybe providedin-theconcrete-to 1 enhancethetensile strength thereof; r

A plurality of sets of flanged wheels are mounted on the underside of the"c( )ver-'10, and'in this case, three sets of these wheels' 28; 29, and 3tl are suitably mounted at the' 'opposite 'undersides of-the' cover. A specific mounting of a wheel is'disclosed in connection. with one of the wheels 29, Fig. 2', wherein the wheel is mounted on a shaft 31 supported at its opposite ends by pillow'bearings 32 and 33f= The pillowbearing 32 is shown as bolted to the lower flange of theside channel rail 21, while the pillow bearingq33 is .bolted'to a longitudinally extending bar 34' which,'.inturn, is welded or otherwise secured. to the bottom flange of the adjacent I-beam 20. It may also be noted that the I-beam 201s cutout at 35 in order toiprovide roomtorreceiving the flanged wheel 29.

Concrete extensions 36 define a continuation of the side walls 14 and--15;of the pool in extending away from the endwalli12 for mounting tracks '38 and 39 preferably constructed offL-shaped structural steel which is embeddedin-tthe surface'of the concrete along the top outer edge. thereof While the extensions 36 and 37 are also embeddedin the ground, they need not be as deep as the side walls of the :swimming pool. Accordingly, the spacingcofthetracks is such so that the flanged wheels bear thereon, Figs. 1 and 2, with the flange of each wheel being on the. outside of thetrack. These tracks are angular in shape and also mounted on the upper outside edge of the pool sidewalls; thereby forming continuous tracks be tween theend'wall-13 of the pool and the outer ends oflthe extensions; In order tomore securely mount the tracks onthe concrete poolside walls and extensions, steel rods, Fig. 2, maybe welded at one end to the inside..of the tracks and embedded diagonally into the concrete. Thus, it is seen that the tracks 38 and 39 extend continuously along the opposing side walls and eX- tension's 14 .36and 15 37'so that the cover may be rolled;back: andiforth thereon to cover and uncover the swimming pool.-

.While 'thecover ltlmay be manually moved into positionxover 'the swimming pool or out of position as seen in::.Fig. 1, almechanical drive means is provided in the instant: case: to effectmovement thereof. It will be appreciated that the cover when in its position over the swimming .pool, Fig. 4, will serve as a patio when'the poolis not in use, or also, mayserve as a patio when the cover is-in its off position as seen inFig. 1. means includes a reversible electric motor 41 which operates a reduction gear assembly 42 through an endless belt: or transmission member 43,'Figs l and 3. The motor and reduction gear assemby are mounted on transversely extending bars44 which, in turn, aremounted in secured relationship to parallel-spaced and longitudinally extending beams 45. The beams 45 are carried at one end'byanI-beam 20 and at the other end by the end channel member 24. Power is transmitted from the reduction gear assembly 42 through an endless transmission member or chain 46 which is trained about a sprocket mounted on a transversely extending shaft 47 to the wheels 30. This shaft 47 is substituted in place of the shaft 31 utilized on the sets of wheels 28 and 29 and is keyed thereto so that power is transmitted to the rear set of wheels 30 from the motor 41.

In order to feed electricity to the motor 41, a cord winding reel 48 is mounted on one of the I'-beams 20, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, andhas mounted thereon a cord 49 which is connected to a source of electricity through a junction box 50 mounted in-approximately the center wall 12, Fig. 4. The winding-reel 48 is continually biased so-that it willtend to wind up the electric cord' 49'dur- The drive V 4 ing the traversing of the cover 10 as it moves from open to closed position and back again. The other end of the cord leads from the reel 48 to the motor 41, although not shown in detail. Since it would be undesirable for this cord to be in the open so that one might trip over it during the positioning of the cover with respect to the swimming pool, it may be noted in Fig. 4 that the junction box 50 is arranged so thatit will be substantially directly beneath the end channel rail 24 when the cover 10 is in overlying positionrelative to the swimming pool. Similarly, at the other end of the travel of the: cover, the opposite end channel rail 23 will be positioned substantially directly over-the junctionboxSO and accordingly keep the electric cord 49 arranged underneath the cover 10. As seen most clearly in Fig. 4, a portion of the walkway remote from the pool end wall 12 is exposed while the cover end is in overlying position with relation torthe swimming pool, whilethe portion of the walkway between the junction box 50 and the end wall 12 is exposed when the-cover is in its removed position from the pool as seen in Fig. 1. r

The starting and stopping of the motor 41 in order to properly position the cover 10 relative to the swimming pool or remote therefrom may be accomplished by any desirable circuit, but one form of electrical circuit which may be used is illustrated in Fig. 6. This circuit is designed to limit the travel of the cover to its opposite extreme positions and includes normally closed limit switch es 51 and 52, mounted in the walkway outside of the pool end wall 12 on a line even with the junction box 50, as seen in Fig. 1. This circuit also includes a single pole double throw reversing switch 53 which may be selectively'brought into engagement with contacts 54 or 55, to'

operate the reversible motor 41. Actuating detents 56 and 57 are mounted on the underside of the cover 10 for respectively operating the limit switches 51 and 52. The detent 56 is mounted at the end of the cover adjacent the corner defined by the end channel rail 23 and side channel rail '21, while the detent 57 is mounted adjacent the corner defined by the end channel rail24 and side channel rail 22. g

The control switch 53 will have at least two positions one being open and the other being closed, although a third position which would be neutral or stop may also be provided for the purpose of stopping the cover at any place along the tracks. Depressing the close button will swing the switch 53 into engagement with the contact 54, which will energize the motor 41 through the normally closed limit switch 51 in the direction which will drive the Wheels 30 so that the cover 10 would move over the swimming pool to close the open top thereof. When the pool reaches its closed position, the detent 57 will operate to engage the limit switch 51 and open the switch and. break the circuit to themotor 41 thereby automatically stopping the" cover in its closed position. This limit switch51-will remain open until the cover has been moved backward a suflicient'distance by the open movement.

In opening the cover, the open button may be depressed thereby swinging the switch 53 to. engage the contact 55 and energize the motor-41 through the normally closed limit switch 52 in a reverse direction so that the cover-;will then move away from the swimming pool to the position shown in Fig. 1. When the cover 10 has reached its proper open position, the detent 56' will engage'th'e limit switch 52, opening the limit switch and thereby opening the circuit to. the motor 41 and stopping the motor and coverfrom moving any further along the tracks. The limit switch 52 will also stay open then until the cover has beenmoved a sufiicient distance towards theswimming poolduring the closing operation; I i

A modification of the invention is disclosed in Fig. 5 which differs from the; embodiment-in Fig. 1 only in that the cover iscomposed of two substantially equisized platforms 58 and 59 which are shown in their open position, one being moved out at each opposite end of the pool. The movement arrows 60 show how the covers move inwardly over the pool top, and dotted lines illustrate the positions of the covers when they are in closed position over the pools. This arrangement over the pools may be desirable where the pool would be centered in a yard even after the cover platforms 58 and 59 are in closed positions. Thus, where less space is available, this space arrangement may be more desirable in order to space the pool so that it will not appear to take up the entire yardwhen the platform covers are closed. Of course, in this arrangement, it will be necessary to extend the tracks 38 and 39 from each opposite end of the pool in order to accommodate the split cover arrangement. Also a driving system will be necessarily installed in association with each cover platform 58 and 59 for operating the covers to their open and closed positions with respect to the pool. Further, widening of the walkways at the opposite ends of the pool will be necessitated in a manner similar to the way the Walkway is widened at the ends outside of the end wall 12 in Fig. 1. It may be further appreciated that the platforms 58 and 59 may be of unequal length.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A swimming pool having side and end walls defining an open-topped chamber for receiving a quantity of water, in combination, an assembly for covering said pool comprising rigid cover means, wheels rotatably mounted on said cover means, tracks arranged on opposite sides of said pool for rollably receiving said wheels, and drive means for driving said cover means along said tracks to expose or cover said open-topped chamber, said cover means including a single unitary platform of rigid material and defining a patio in either its open or closed position.

2. A swimming pool having side and end walls defining an open-topped chamber for receiving a quantity of water, in combination, an assembly for covering said pool comprising rigid cover means, wheels rotatably mounted on said cover, tracks arranged on opposite sides of said pool for rollably receiving said wheels, and drives means for driving said cover means along said tracks to expose or cover said open-topped chamber, said cover means including a pair of rigid platforms one movable along the tracks away from each end of said pool, whereby said platforms coact to completely cover the opentopped chamber when in their closed position and also define a patio.

3. A swimming pool having side and end walls, in combination, a cover assembly adapted to cover said pool comprising, a rigid cover selectively movable over said pool, a series of wheels rotatably mounted on the underside of said cover, means for driving some of said wheels, said side walls being formed of concrete and having extensions extending from one end of said pool and in alignment with said side walls, and an L-shaped structural steel member embedded in the surface along the edge of each said side walls and its extension forming a track mounted along each side wall and corresponding extension, said tracks rollably receiving the wheels of said cover, said extensions and tracks extending from one end of said pool a sufiicient distance so that the cover may be moved to a position to expose the pool.

4. A swimming pool having side and end walls, in combination, a cover assembly adapted to cover said pool comprising, a rigid cover selectively movable over said pool, a series of wheels rotatably mounted on the underside of said cover, means for driving some of said wheels, said drive means including a reversible electric motor and a reduction gear assembly operatively connected to some of said wheels, said motor being remote controlled, said side walls having extensions extending from one end of said pool and in alignment with said side walls, and a track mounted along each side wall and corresponding extension, said tracks rollably receiving the wheels of said cover, said extensions and tracks extending from one end of said pool a suiiicient distance so that the cover may be moved to a position to expose the pool.

5. A swimming pool having side and end walls, in combination, a cover assembly adapted to cover said pool comprising, a rigid cover selectively movable over said pool, a series of wheels rotatably mounted on the underside of said cover, means for driving some of said wheels, said drive means including a reversible electric motor and a reduction gear assembly operatively connected to some of said wheels, a pair of limit switches mounted in the path of detents on said cover for effecting automatic stopping of said cover in the open or closed position, said side walls having extensions extending from one end of said pool and in alignment with said side Walls and a track mounted along each side wall and corresponding extension, said tracks rollably receiving the wheels of said cover, said extensions and tracks extending from one end of said pool a sutficient distance so that the cover may be moved to a position to expose the pool.

6. A swimming pool having side and end walls and extensions extending from at least one end of the swimming pool and forming continuations of the side walls, in combination with means for selectively covering said pool which comprises, a rigid cover sized to completely cover said pool, said cover having a flat top and defining a patio in its open or closed position, wheels mounted on said cover, and tracks arranged along the top of said side walls and said extensions for receiving said wheels. 7. A swimming pool having side and end walls and extensions extending from at least one end of the swimming pool and forming continuations of the side walls, in combination with means for selectively covering said pool which comprises, a rigid cover sized to completely cover said pool, said cover having a flat top and defining a patio in its open or closed position, wheels mounted on said cover, and tracks arranged along the top of said side walls and said extensions for receiving said wheels, and drive means carried on said cover for driving at least one wheel to move the cover along said tracks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,877,361 Perkins Sept. 13, 1932 1,952,681 Peelle Mar. 27, 1934 2,287,645 Spencer June 23, 1942 2,754,899 Karobom'k et al. July 17, 1956 2,755,081 Johnson et al. July 17, 1956 2,797,083 Kummerman June 25, 1957 

